3 Statistical considerations in applications of path analysis in genetic epidemiology

6. Summary In this chapter we have discussed briefly the reason why application of causal models in social sciences has generated much heat, and the reason why its application in genetic epidemiology is better justified. We have discussed a contemporaty path model much used in actual family studies, and the associated statistical methods. We have presented some new results showing how the estimates of environmental and genetic effects can be distorted by the use of environmental indices based on less than complete data. We conclude the chapter by identifying two problem areas needing further work.

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